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Re: Epiphany (212)

Originally Posted by Blizzah

That is so weird that he was cast as Conan, I guess that's why I thought it fit so well when Rodney referred to him that way.

Overall I like the episode but there were some things that didn't seem right. You would think that Rodney would have sent a note through to explain things earlier so that Shep would know what's going on. Given their recent problems, maybe they should have conducted a little more analysis of the situation before jumping in. Other than a few details the story was interesting and the one-liners were priceless.

Re: Epiphany (212)

Oof. This episode was the equivalent to season one’s Sanctuary – slowly, somewhat silly, and, occasionally, downright painful to sit through. A great door in (the time distortion portal) is undone by a story involving a community of space-hippies who are being stalked by an invisible bogeyman (the stand-in for the creature during production was a guy in a pink monster suit that would have us in stitches whenever he appeared on dailies). Sheppard joins the commune and he is revealed as…The One who will lead them. As prophecized, of course. It turns out the monster is actually a manifestation of their own fear and, to defeat it, they must come together as one – just like the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers did in in the movie in order to revive their boss, the giant head. The power of love inner strength vanquishes the monster and the episode ends with a good ole fashioned mass ascension.

Re: Epiphany (212)

Epiphany

The Stargate formula allows for many possible episodes to exist; an adventure episode, an episode which explores moral issues, an episode with an issue happening inside of Atlantis and more obviously, the event episodes... This is one in which a character gets separated and is forced to deal with it all alone, and the character who gets separated is Sheppard. Now Sheppard is a pretty good character to focus on and sending him off all alone should provide a decent episode and the addition of a society, a sort of thing relating to the Ancients and Ascension should prove to provide both some tantalizing character exposition and some revelations regarding some of the stuff that the ancients do similar to the SG1 episode "A Hundred Days"; but it doesn't comes to that.

Sheppard does do well by himself, we finally get to see him all alone in a situation where he can't escape from and we get to see his coping mechanisms when he's crazy; talking to a radio similar to Cast Away, thinking about them, trying out new things... When we look into his eyes, we can see that he misses his team; that he is definitely somewhere else and we can also see the certain set of skills that aren't the usual action based stuff. There is something to Sheppard being alone and the society that he's forced to be around is also something too... A bunch of people trying to ascend, medicating, holding crazy views; they provide life, they provide the basis and they even provide some interesting stuff like what can their perception of ascension be seen as to an ordinary person and the monster that is out there; the one that is attacking. It too helps to build on the basis to form something which has more meaning then your average episode, especially when used in contrast between Sheppard, the villagers and their actions themselves. If this episode has one thing going for it, it'd be people watching this episode will learn a bit more about Sheppard.

Just meditating...

Unfortunately, Sheppard is not O'Neill... While O'Neill had the charm, personality, appeal and even the brevity to carry those scenes along (and he's one of the things that made "A Hundred Days" what it is), Sheppard does not and because of that, there are many portions which drag. In moments where character is expected to be revealed, he points out either the obvious or falls back to stuff we already know. Sheppard is a good character when used well, in many points he's managed to grow himself in to a character with multiple dimensions but it doesn't seem like they're using him to his fullest potential; we get to see him smile, converse, speak out his opinions and get used to his situation but it's never really there. Sheppard is O'Neill when it comes to some action scenes but he's not him when it comes to dramatic situations. It would of helped had the society been given enough personality and the woman been made appealing and while some of that is fulfilled here, it never really comes to fruition. The female who Sheppard is close to is unmemorable and while she serves her purpose well, there isn't anything defining that makes her pay attention to her; she just seems like the usual love interest who can also play the damsel in distress when needed and is given just a bit more push to prove essential to the plot.

It builds itself up, it handles itself well until the end where some truly good stuff is shown but it never really feels engaging for much of that time and so we're left waiting for that ever so essential moment that fulfills the promise the episode has, a moment of which isn't as satisfying as one would expect. While it is impressive and has the usual Stargate feeling; it just feels like somewhat of a letdown, especially considering the content of the script and what we went through to get there. It's like they were trying to end it in a magnificent way but the way it came across felt like just your average SGA ending. If there's one thing the episode does well, it's the rush; the scenes shown really showcase the time between two worlds, one short, one long... The characters handle the rush well; moving fast, thinking on their toes and providing the pace that'll keep going. There is some action though, mostly relating to the "beast" and while it isn't the best action in the show, it works well enough... .It does form much of the plot's context that provides much of the episode's depth and serves to push our hero's story further; considering the society, considering what they're going through and considering the unknown; it's impressive really.

Same old, same old...

There's a lot of impressive stuff in this episode but overall this episode is unimpressive; and how can I say that when it contains a lot of character drama and ancient revelations. Well, those are two good things but overall an episode needs to engage it's audience and make it's situation worth investing in in order to be impressive. I think the problem with this episode is that they focused too much on the subtext behind the script rather then the content itself; it's understandable what they were trying to do, write an episode that would be an end-all for this character and tie it all together in a way that gives it depth with all the contextual stuff and thematic structures and all... depth is what makes these episodes good and hey, they also make an episode go where no episode has gone before (see "Poisoning the Well") but it seems like they were caught up in trying to make the script as deep as possible, thus when it came to the actual character in general; they couldn't come up with much and instead made his scenes similar to "A Hundred Days"... Scriptwriting can be the medium for some pretty clever stuff and those who are capable and able are both able to make something both entertaining and thought-provoking but this is what happens when cleverness takes prudence over entertainment.

SGA's "Epiphany" is a weak episode but it's not terrible, it's executed competently enough and there are even some moments character-wise that you might stick around for but overall this just seems like the writer had an idea but either had a bad day or didn't have the concept 100% and this is the result; an average episode. If you want something that'll satisfy you, you'd be better off watching "A Hundred Days" then this.

Re: Epiphany (212)

My LiveJournal post
Haha, MALP on a stick!
As for the Conan thing, maybe someone involved in that film saw this episode before making the film..
Now we just need some kind of Xena remake with Rachel Luttrell!

"Thanks to denial, I'm immortal."
"A big 'Hello' to all intelligent life out there, and for everyone else, the secret is to bang the rocks together, guys!""Excuse me, barmaid? You seem to have brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fishbone!"
"I'm Jack. It means... what's in the box?"

Re: Epiphany (212)

Can I have my hour back? This episode is boring. Between McKay being condescending and Sheppherd trying to convince a group of Ancients to face their fears I find myself bored and uninterested in this episode. Nothing exciting ever happens to anyone. Its just explanation and meditation. I just don't see the point of this episode

Re: Epiphany (212)

This made me think of SG-1's A Hundred Days and Paradise Lost nearly immediately. But O'Neill has just so much more going on than Sheppard. They could've done so much with this and revealed more of Sheppard's character and back-story (which we have precious little of even halfway into S2). *sigh*

As a result, it makes for a pretty boring episode. Funny how you can watch O'Neill and just one other person alone for practically a whole episode and be completely entertained, while Sheppard gets to spend six months with an entire village of people who are on their way to ascending and all he does is fall asleep while meditating with them.

Sorry for being so negative - I just feel like they missed a big opportunity with this one.

Re: Epiphany (212)

All the references to other television and popular culture products in Stargate take away from the immersion. But David Hewlett is such a good actor, that I had no choice but to laugh about "Conan and Xena".

I noticed that right from the start all the characters act like a long time has already passed before they reliazed they were dealing with a time dilation device. When sheppard fell through the doorway, he started conversing over radio without a reply, as if he had spent a long time alone and gone a little crazy. And Conan started arguing with McKay about "wasting time" when from their perspective very little time had passed.

The "Sanctuary" seems to me like a really cool place to move to.

I didn't appreciate the large dose of Sheppard's moral superiority, telling that everyone in the sanctuary what to do, even though he just got there.